Chest And Method Of Manufacturing The Same

ABSTRACT

A drawer is stored in a space surrounded by front supporting column frames and a front frame on the front side, and rear supporting column frames and a rear frame on the rear side so as to be capable of being drawn out therefrom. Both side frames are provided with holding members including a lower holding strip and a pair of upper holding strips, and a front locking strip and a rear locking strip are formed on the inner side surface of the front supporting column frame and on the rear frame respectively. Fixed rail is press-interposed between the lower holding strip and the pair of upper holding strips, and the front locking strip is engaged with the front end of the fixed rail and the rear locking strip is engaged with the rear end of the fixed rail, respectively.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a chest for storing clothes, small articles and so on and a method of manufacturing the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

Hitherto, a chest is used for storing clothes or small articles and so on. The chest is composed of a chest body and a drawer stored in the chest body so as to be capable of being drawn out therefrom. A chest of a type in which the chest body and the drawer are formed of synthetic resin by injection molding and the chest body has a frame structure considering manufacturing cost or manufacturability is also in the market. The chest of this type includes a chest body having a space surrounded by synthetic resin frames and a drawer which is fitted into the space in the chest body so as to be capable of being drawn out therefrom.

However, when the chest body and the drawer as described above are molded with synthetic resin, the drawer is low in rigidity and hence is easily deformed and, in addition, sliding resistance generated between the chest body and the drawer is significant due to surface contact between synthetic resin parts. Therefore, difficulty in sliding operation of the drawer is encountered, which may result in lowering of quality feeling and lowering of user-friendliness of the synthetic resin chest of this type.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the invention to provide a chest in which slidability of a drawer in the synthetic resin chest is improved, and a method of manufacturing the same.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a chest according to the invention of claim 1 is a chest including a chest body having a space surrounded by synthetic resin frames and a drawer fitted to the space in the chest body so as to be capable of being drawn out therefrom, including rails disposed in the space in the chest body along the direction of movement of the drawer, and movable members provided on the drawer so as to be capable of moving in the rails. Therefore, when a user operates to open or close the drawer, the movable members on the drawer slide in the rails on the chest body. Therefore, slidability of the drawer in the chest in which the chest body is molded with synthetic resin can be improved.

According to claim 2, the rails are formed of metal. Therefore, the movable members slide in the metallic rails having low sliding resistance and hence slidability of the drawer is improved.

According to claim 3, the rails are disposed on the lower portions of opposed side surfaces of the space. Therefore, the movable members are also arranged on the lower portion of the drawer, and hence reduction of capacity of the drawer can be alleviated in comparison with the case in which the movable members are provided on the upper portion of the drawer.

According to claim 4, the rails are disposed on the bottom portion of the space. Therefore, the movable members are also arranged on the bottom portion of the drawer, and hence reduction of capacity of the drawer can further be alleviated in comparison with the case in which the movable members are provided on the upper portion of the drawer.

According to claim 5, the chest body is provided with holding members that hold the rails in association with the power capacity of operation to assemble the rails. Therefore, an operator can assemble the rails easily with a simple operation with a light power.

According to claim 6, the chest body is provided with holding members that hold the rails in association with the power capacity of operation to assemble the rails, where the holding members include a plurality of holding strips which hold the upper and lower surfaces of the rails in press-contact thereto without protruding to the inner side of the rails. Therefore, the slidability of the movable members can be secured without interference or contact of the movable members sliding in the rails with respect to the holding strips.

According to claim 7, the chest body includes a pair of front and rear supporting column frames extending in the vertical direction on the left and right sides, the space is defined between these supporting column frames, and the rails are disposed between the pair of front and rear supporting column frames. Therefore, supporting rigidity of the supporting column frames extending in the vertical direction can be enhanced by effectively utilizing the rigidity of the rails.

According to claim 8, the chest body includes a plurality of frame units formed of integrally assembled predetermined frames combined to each other, and the rails are disposed on the respective frame units in advance. Therefore, the chest body is completed easily by combining the plurality of frame units.

The invention according to claim 9 is a method of manufacturing a chest including a chest body having a space surrounded by synthetic resin frames and a drawer fitted to the space in the chest body so as to be capable of being drawn out therefrom, rails disposed on the chest body along the direction of movement of the drawer, and movable members provided on the drawer so as to be capable of moving in the rails, the method comprising: molding the chest body by injection molding; and assembling the rails in the space along the direction of movement of the drawer after having taken out the molded chest body from a metal mold before the resin is cured. Therefore, since the resin is in a soft state before having completely cured at the time of assembly of the rails, the operator can complete a mounting work of the rails in a simple operation without any difficulty.

According to the invention of claim 10, at the time of the injection molding, holding members for holding the rails in association with the fitting operation are formed on the chest body, and the rails are assembled to the holding members before the resin is cured. Therefore, since holding strips are in a soft state in which the resin is not completely cured at the time of assembly of the rails, the operator can complete a mounting work of the rails in a simple operation without any difficulty.

According to the invention of claim 11, the holding members include a plurality of holding strips that holds the upper and lower surfaces of the rails in press-contact thereto without protruding to the inner sides of the rails. Therefore, the mounting work of the rails can be completed in a simple operation so as to interpose the rails between the plurality of holding strips in the uncured state.

Advantage Effect

As described the above, according to the invention of claim 1, when a user operates to open or close the drawer, the movable members on the drawer slide in the rails on the chest body. Therefore, slidability of the drawer in the chest in which the chest body is molded with synthetic resin can be improved, whereby the quality feeling and the user-friendliness of the synthetic resin chest of this type can be improved.

According to claim 2, the movable members slide in the metallic rails having low sliding resistance and hence slidability of the drawer is improved.

According to claim 3, the movable members in the drawer are also arranged on the lower portion of the drawer, and hence reduction of capacity of the drawer can be alleviated in comparison with the case in which the movable members are provided on the upper portion of the drawer.

According to claim 4, the movable members in the drawer are also arranged on the bottom portion of the drawer, and hence reduction of capacity of the drawer can further be alleviated in comparison with the case in which the movable members are provided on the upper portion of the drawer.

According to claim 5, an operator can assemble the rails easily with a simple operation with a light power.

According to claim 6, the slidability of the movable members can be secured without interference or contact of the movable members sliding in the rails with respect to the holding strips. Consequently, the slidability of the movable members can be secured while fixing the rail in a simple structure.

According to claim 7, supporting rigidity of the supporting column frames extending in the vertical direction can be enhanced by effectively utilizing the rigidity of the rails and hence the rigidity of the entire frame can be enhanced, thereby improving the quality feeling of the chest.

According to claim 8, the chest body is completed easily by combining the plurality of frame units.

According to the invention of claim 9, since the resin is in a soft state before having completely cured at the time of assembly of the rails, the operator can complete a mounting work of the rails in a simple operation without any difficulty. Consequently, assembly of the rails can be completed in an injection molding line for the chest body without providing a specific line therefor.

According to the invention of claim 10, since holding strips are in a soft state in which the resin is not completely cured at the time of assembly of the rails, the operator can complete a mounting work of the rails in a simple operation without any difficulty.

According to the invention of claim 11, the mounting work of the rails can be completed in a simple operation so as to interpose the rails between the plurality of holding strips in the uncured state.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view in the same embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the inner side surface of a frame member in the same embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a drawer body in the same embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory drawing showing a state in which the drawer in the same embodiment is drawn out from a chest body;

FIG. 6 shows a front plate in the same embodiment, in which a front surface is illustrated on the right side in the drawing, and a back surface is illustrated on the left side in the drawing;

FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 6;

FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B in FIG. 7A;

FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line C-C in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line D-D in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line E-E in FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is a bottom view showing the front plate in the same embodiment; and

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line F-F in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings, an embodiment of the invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a drawing showing a chest 1 in this embodiment, and the chest 1 is used for storing clothes, small articles, and so on.

As shown also in FIG. 2, the chest 1 includes a chest body 11 which constitutes a frame and three rectangular container-shaped drawers 12, . . . provided in the chest body 11. The chest body 11 and the drawers 12 are formed of synthetic resin by injection molding.

The chest body 11 includes three frame units 21, . . . connected in the vertically direction, and the frame unit 21 at the bottom is provided with leg portions 23, . . . on a bottom surface 22 thereof. The frame unit 21 on top is provided with a top plate 24, and the drawers 12, . . . are held in the respective frame units 21 so as to be capable of being drawn out therefrom.

As shown in FIG. 3, the frame unit 21 includes a rectangular bottom plate portion 31, opening at the center portion thereof, supporting column frames 32 (front supporting column frames 32F and rear supporting column frames 32R) standing upright at the four corners of the bottom plate portion 31, both side frames 51 bridged between the lower ends of the front and rear supporting column frames 32F and 32R, a front frame 33F bridged between the lower ends of a pair of the left and right front supporting column frames 32F, and a rear frame 33R bridged between the lower ends of a pair of the left and right rear supporting column frames 32R. In FIG. 3 and other drawings, reference sign F represents the front side of the chest body 11, and reference sign R represents the rear side thereof. The drawer 12 is stored in a space 34 surrounded by the front supporting column frames 32F and the front frame 33F on the front side, and by the rear supporting column frames 32R and the rear frame 33R on the rear side so as to be capable of being drawn out therefrom.

The front and rear supporting column frames 32F, 32R each are formed into the shape of a square pole, and each integrally include a supporting column body 41 extending upright from the bottom plate portion 31 and an insert portion 42 provided at the upper end of the supporting column body 41. The insert portion 42 is formed to be smaller than the supporting column body 41 in diameter, and a shoulder 44 is formed at the upper end of the supporting column body 41 where the insert portion 42 extends upright from.

The supporting column body 41 is provided at the lower end thereof with a connecting portion 45 to which the insert portion 42 of the supporting column frame 32 arranged below or the leg portion 23 is selectively inserted. Accordingly, the frame unit 21 on the lower side and the frame unit 21 on the upper side can be connected in a state in which the insert portions 42 of the supporting column frames 32 of the lower frame unit 21 are inserted into the connecting portions 45 of the supporting column frames 32 of the upper frame unit 21, and the shoulders 44 of the lower supporting column bodies 41 are brought into abutment with the lower ends of the supporting column bodies 41 on the upper side.

The inner surfaces of the both side frames 51, which correspond to surfaces on the side where the space 34 exists, are provided with metallic fixed rails 53 having rollers 52 along the longitudinal direction thereof so as to be bridged between the supporting column frames 32, 32. The fixed rail 53 is formed into an angular C-shape in cross section, and has an upper surface portion 531, a side surface portion 532, and a lower surface portion 533 continued integrally.

On the other hand, the both side frames 51 each are provided with a holding member 510 composed of a lower holding strip 511 and a pair of upper holding strips 512, 513. A front locking strip 514 is formed on the inner surface of the front supporting column frame 32F, and a rear locking strip 515 is formed on the rear frame 33R, respectively. Each of the fixed rails 53 is press-interposed between the lower holding strip 511 and the pair of upper holding strips 512 and 513, so that the front locking strip 514 locks the front end of the fixed rail 53 and the rear locking strip 515 locks the rear end of the fixed rail 53 respectively.

Although the lower holding strip 511 is in press-contact with the lower surface portion 533 of the fixed rail 53, it has a shape which does not protrude upward (to the inner side of the rail 53) with respect to the lower surface portion 533. Likewise, although the upper holding strips 512, 513 are in press-contact with the upper surface portion 531 of the fixed rail 53, it has a shape which does not protrude downwardly (to the inner side of the rail 53) with respect to the upper surface portion 531.

A drawer body 12 a of the drawer 12 which is held between the left and right supporting column frames 32F, 32R of the frame unit 21 is formed into a rectangular container shape opening on top as shown in FIG. 4. The drawer body 12 a is formed by a metal mold which is opened in the vertical direction, and left and right side surfaces 61, 61, a front surface 62, and a rear surface 63 are formed to be inclined outward as they go upward by a draft angle.

The side surfaces 61, the lower portion of 61 each are provided with a metallic movable rail 65 which is paired with the fixed rail 53. The movable rail 65 includes a lower fixed surface to be fixed to a shoulder portion, not shown, formed on the lateral portion of a lower surface 71 of the drawer body 12 a and an upright surface 75 extending upright from the lower fixed surface to be fixed to a set-back portion 74 at the lower portion of the side surface 61 of the drawer body 12 a, and the lower corner at the front end of the upright surface 75 is held in a state of being interposed between a lower locking portion 76 formed on the side surface 61 and the side surface 61. The upper corner of the front end of the upright surface 75 is limited from moving forward by an angular-shaped projection 77 protruded from the side surface 61.

Then, the lower fixed surface of the movable rail 65 is held in a state of being interposed between locking strips 81, . . . of an L-shape in cross section provided on the lower surface 71 of the drawer body 12 a so as to open toward the side and the lower surface 71, and a roller 82 is provided at the rear end of the upright surface 75.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5, the roller 52 provided on the fixed rail 53 rotates along an upper surface guide 83 provided on the movable rail 65, and the roller 82 provided on the movable rail 65 rotates along the upper surface portion 531 of the fixed rail 53, so that the movement of the drawer 12 is facilitated.

A front plate 12 b is fixed to the front portion of the drawer body 12 a. As shown in FIG. 6, the front plate 12 b is formed into a laterally elongated rectangular shape and a flange extending toward the back side is formed along the entire peripheral edge thereof. As shown in FIG. 6 and FIGS. 7A and 7B, an upper edge flange 91 of the front plate 12 b is formed with a downwardly depressed recess of a trapezoidal shape at the center portion thereof, and the recess forms a hand grip portion 92 at the upper edge of the front plate 12 b for placing the hand when drawing the drawer out. The hand grip portion 92 is provided with a projecting ridge 93 at the front edge thereof as a fingerhold to be used when it is operated as shown in FIG. 7B.

The upper edge flange 91 extending from the upper edge of the hand grip portion 92 toward the back side of the front plate 12 b is formed with a locking claw 101, which is an engaging claw projecting downward, so as to extend widthwise of the front plate 12 b, so that a locking portion 102 set at the center of the upper edge of the front surface 62 of the drawer body 12 a is interposed between the locking claw 101 and the back surface of the hand grip portion 92 as shown in FIG. 8A. Accordingly, the front plate 12 b is prevented from coming apart toward the front by the engagement of the locking claw 101 and the locking portion 102.

As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7A, L-shaped locking projections 111, 111 projecting downward are formed at the both ends of the upper edge flange 91, and the locking projection 111 includes a rearward extension 112 extending rearward from the front plate 12 b and a center extension 113 extending from the rearward extension 112 toward the center portion of the front plate 12 b. As shown in FIG. 8B and FIG. 9, the center extension 113 is inserted into a lateral groove 115 of the protrusion 114 protruding from the upper edge of the drawer body 12 a, and the rearward extension 112 is arranged on the side of a protrusion 114. Accordingly, an engagement structure is established by the protrusion 114 formed with the lateral groove 115 and the locking projection 111 engaged with each other. In this state, the upper edge flange 91 is prevented from moving rearward by a stopper 116 projecting at the upper edge of the drawer body 12 a.

As shown in FIG. 10, a lower edge flange 121 of the front plate 12 b is formed with a plurality of laterally elongated engaging holes 122, . . . extending along the rear edge arranged juxtapositionally, and as shown in FIG. 11, engaging projections 124 to be inserted into the respective engaging holes 122, . . . project from a fitting portion 123 provided on the lower surface 71 of the drawer body 12 a to which the lower edge flange 121 is fitted.

In this embodiment configured as described above, when manufacturing the frame unit 21, the frame unit 21 is injection-molded and taken out from a metal mold. Then, in a state in which resin is not completely cured and hence the product (the frame unit 21) is still at a high temperature, the fixed rail 53 is inserted between the lower holding strip 511 and the pair of upper holding strips 512, 513 as shown in FIG. 3, the front end of the fixed rail 53 is engaged with the front locking strip 514, and the rear end thereof is engaged with the rear locking strip 515, respectively. At this time, since the lower holding strip 511, the upper holding strips 512, 513, the front locking strip 514 and the rear locking strip 515 are in a soft state in which resin is not completely cured, an operator can complete a mounting work of the fixed rail 53 in a simple operation without any difficulty. Therefore, assembly of the metallic fixed rails 53 can be completed in an injection molding line for the frame unit 21 without providing a specific line therefor.

Then, the chest 1 according to this embodiment is configured as described above using the three frame units 21 and the drawers 12 manufactured in this manner. In this chest 1, the fixed rails 53 are arranged inside the both side frames 51, they cannot be viewed from the outside, and hence lowering of the quality feeling caused by exposure of the fixed rails 53 can be prevented in advance.

In addition, since the fixed rails 53 are arranged on the both side frames 51 of the frame unit 21, the movable rails 65 as counterparts are arranged on the lower portion of the drawer 12. Therefore, since the movable rails 65 are arranged on the lower portion of the drawer 12, reduction of capacity of the drawer 12 can be alleviated in comparison with the case in which the movable rails 65 are arranged on the upper portion of the drawer 12.

In addition, since the metallic fixed rails 63 are bridged between the lower ends of the front and rear supporting column frames 32F and 32R, the supporting rigidity of the front and rear supporting column frames 32F and 32R can be enhanced by effectively utilizing rigidity of the metallic rails 65, and hence the rigidity of the entire frame unit 21 can also be enhanced, thereby improving the quality feeling of the synthetic resin chest.

When a user operates the drawer 12 to open or close, the movable rails 65 on the drawer 12 side are slid in the fixed rails 53 on the frame unit 21, while involving rotation of the rollers 52 and 82. Therefore, slidability of the drawer 12 in the chest 1 in which the chest body 11 and the drawer 12 are both molded with synthetic resin can be improved, whereby the quality feeling and the user-friendliness of the synthetic resin chest of this type can be improved.

In this case, as described above, although the lower holding strip 511 is in press-contact with the lower surface portion 533 of the fixed rail 53, it has a shape which does not protrude upward (to the inner side of the rail 53) with respect to the lower surface portion 533. Likewise, although the upper holding strips 512, 513 are in press-contact with the upper surface portion 531 of the fixed rail 53, it has a shape which does not protrude downwardly (to the inner side of the rail 53) with respect to the upper surface portion 531. Therefore, slidability of the movable rail 65 can be secured without interference or contact of the movable rail 65 with respect to the lower holding strip 511 and the upper holding strips 512, 513. Therefore, the slidability of the movable rail 65 can be secured while fixing the fixed rail 53 in a simple structure.

Although the fixed rails 53 are arranged inside the both side frames 51 in this embodiment, the invention is not limited thereto, and the fixed rail 53 can be arranged on the bottom surface portion of the frame unit 21, that is, between the front frame 33F and the rear frame 33R. In this case, the movable rail 65 is disposed on the lower surface of the bottom portion of the drawer 12.

Although the mounting of the fixed rail 53 is done by the operator by inserting the fixed rail 53 between the lower holding strip 511 and the pair of upper holding strips 512, 513, and engaging the front end and the rear end of the fixed rail 53 with the front locking strip 514 and the rear locking strip 515 respectively in this embodiment, it is also possible to fix the fixed rail 53 by a locking mechanism which achieves fixation by inserting the fixed rail 53 in one direction and then returning the same in the opposite direction. 

1. A chest including a chest body having a space surrounded by synthetic resin frames and a drawer fitted to the space in the chest body so as to be capable of being drawn out therefrom, comprising: rails disposed in the space in the chest body along the direction of movement of the drawer; and movable members provided on the drawer so as to be capable of moving in the rails.
 2. The chest according to claim 1, wherein the rails are formed of metal.
 3. The chest according to claim 1, wherein the rails are disposed on the lower portions of opposed side surfaces of the space.
 4. The chest according to claim 1, wherein the rails are disposed on the bottom portion of the space.
 5. The chest according to claim 1, wherein the chest body is provided with holding members that hold the rails in association with the power capacity of operation to assemble the rails.
 6. The chest according to claim 1, wherein the chest body is provided with holding members that hold the rails in association with the power capacity of operation to assemble the rails, and the holding members include a plurality of holding strips which hold the upper and lower surfaces of the rails in press-contact thereto without protruding to the inner sides of the rails.
 7. The chest according to claim 1, wherein the chest body includes a pair of front and rear supporting column frames extending in the vertical direction on the left and right sides, the space is defined between these supporting column frames, and the rails are disposed between the pair of front and rear supporting column frames.
 8. The chest according to claim 1, wherein the chest body includes a plurality of frame units formed of integrally assembled predetermined frames combined to each other, and the rails are disposed on the respective frame units in advance.
 9. A method of manufacturing a chest including a chest body having a space surrounded by synthetic resin frames and a drawer fitted to the space in the chest body so as to be capable of being drawn out therefrom, rails disposed on the chest body along the direction of movement of the drawer, and movable members provided on the drawer so as to be capable of moving in the rails, the method comprising: molding the chest body by injection molding; and assembling the rails in the space along the direction of movement of the drawer after having taken out the molded chest body from a metal mold before the resin is cured.
 10. The method of manufacturing a chest according to claim 9, wherein at the time of the injection molding, holding members for holding the rails in association with the fitting operation are formed on the chest body, and the rails are assembled to the holding members before the resin is cured.
 11. The method of manufacturing a chest according to claim 10, wherein the holding members include a plurality of holding strips that holds the upper and lower surfaces of the rails in press-contact thereto without protruding to the inner side of the rails.
 12. The chest according to claim 2, wherein the rails are disposed on the lower portions of opposed side surfaces of the space.
 13. The chest according to claim 2, wherein the rails are disposed on the bottom portion of the space.
 14. The chest according to claim 2, wherein the chest body is provided with holding members that hold the rails in association with the power capacity of operation to assemble the rails.
 15. The chest according to claim 2, wherein the chest body is provided with holding members that hold the rails in association with the power capacity of operation to assemble the rails, and the holding members include a plurality of holding strips which hold the upper and lower surfaces of the rails in press-contact thereto without protruding to the inner sides of the rails.
 16. The chest according to claim 2, wherein the chest body includes a pair of front and rear supporting column frames extending in the vertical direction on the left and right sides, the space is defined between these supporting column frames, and the rails are disposed between the pair of front and rear supporting column frames.
 17. The chest according to claim 2, wherein the chest body includes a plurality of frame units formed of integrally assembled predetermined frames combined to each other, and the rails are disposed on the respective frame units in advance. 